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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27301147">Silhouettes</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arsoemon/pseuds/Arsoemon'>Arsoemon</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>ShuKita 100 [42]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Persona 5, Persona Series</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Light Angst, M/M, No Plot/Plotless, POV Alternating, Shukita - Freeform</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 19:15:26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,169</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27301147</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arsoemon/pseuds/Arsoemon</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A thousand silhouettes dancing on my chest,<br/>No matter where I sleep, you are haunting me<br/>But I'm already there,<br/>I'm already there.<br/>Wherever there is you,<br/>I will be there too.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kitagawa Yusuke/Kurusu Akira, Kitagawa Yusuke/Persona 5 Protagonist</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>ShuKita 100 [42]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1485896</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Shukita Halloween</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Silhouettes</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Title and summary from “Silhouettes” by Of Monsters And Men</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Yusuke lives comfortably in a fairly nice house, big enough to have his studio and bedroom separate, though he rarely sleeps in his bed anyway. Where in the house he lands for the night—or early morning—matters not when there’s no one waiting for him.</p><p> </p><p>He finally sets down his brush, his legs and back popping from being in the same position for so long. A faint aroma of food reminds him of his previously quiet yet empty stomach, and he pads to the kitchen.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Akira recently found a place of his own in the city. With as nice as it is, he shouldn’t be able to live as comfortably as he does without the aid of a housemate. But apparently ghost stories are powerful enough to shape the housing market. He’s just glad he found somewhere, even if it is just a place to exist.</p><p> </p><p>He’s been researching for his next book so long his stomach has given up on growling, though the hunger is still very present. A popping sound he dismisses as the house settling pulls him back to reality as he bookmarks a website and puts his laptop to sleep before rising to go make a small dinner.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Yusuke finishes his meal and returns to his canvas, a deep sigh leaving his mouth at the sight. The image is just background, the muted colors on his palette all muddied and grayed where they mix. It’s an assault on his eyes and reputation in the art world, and yet he can’t bring himself to scrap it. He decides to leave it for the night and settles into the futon in the corner.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Akira dries his plate and flips off the lights. He opens his laptop once more, trying to decide if this detail will help the plot at all. A message appears on the screen; the rest of the article requires a subscription. He closes the site with a sigh and scraps the idea, turning off the laptop before heading to his room to sleep.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Yusuke wakes after a handful of hours and rises to start the day, brushing his teeth in the bathroom across the hall from his bedroom and pulling on some pants to stave off the chill in the drafty rooms.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Akira dreams of nothing in particular. If he has any imagination left at all, his brain doesn’t want him to access it. All he remembers is from the space between sleep and waking, where it could’ve been a dream, though he definitely heard running water from across the hall and settling floorboards in the room down the hall from his bedroom. He thinks little of it and goes to start breakfast.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>A light breakfast eaten, Yusuke returns to his studio and stares at the bleak canvas, willing the creativity to flow and bring some life to the gray before him.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Akira sits at his laptop, scrolling through page after page in search of what the hell this story will be about, running into dead end after dead end. What hasn’t he done to his characters? And how many others have already done this or that idea better? He drops his head into his hands and hears a noise, a low growl as if someone were expressing his frustration for him.</p><p> </p><p>He looks around the room. No one else is here. The real estate agent’s nervous laughter from the moment he asked about this place comes back to mind. But why would a place like this be haunted? And even in the off chance it is, he doesn’t feel threatened. He pushes the uneasiness aside and grabs his jacket to go out for a walk.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Yusuke groans miserably. As much as he loves painting and having all the time in the world to devote to it, moments like this call for distraction, for something to remove this blockage. He stands to go watch the outside world through his window.</p><p> </p><p>It’s a beautiful, clear but cold day, if the air through the glass pane is anything to go by. He always loves to see the trees in their autumn ensembles, the yellows and oranges and reds beautiful yet incredibly somber as the stationary giants come to terms with their impending doom. There’s a couple holding hands and laughing as they pass his favorite tree on the road below; another sight that makes his face smile and his heart weep. He leaves the window and returns to the easel.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Akira returns from his walk feeling a little better. No closer to starting and finishing this novel yet but certainly more optimistic. He turns on some music and just starts typing whatever comes to mind, the tones and topics shifting with each song. He looks over the page or so he has so far and is almost impressed with himself; some of it can be used.</p><p> </p><p>He’s about to take a stab at outlining the work again when one song in particular catches his attention.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Yusuke is looking through his paints, trying to suss out which ones can salvage this work, when he hears a melody. It’s low, quiet but has to be coming from in this room. And it’s so familiar. Where has he heard it before?</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Akira stands slowly, knocking over his chair in the process.</p><p> </p><p>Yusuke turns his head toward what sounds like something clattering on the floor.</p><p> </p><p>A voice echoes in the room.</p><p> </p><p>”You each have the opportunity to decide whether you will live whilst the other dies or whether you both survive but in separate realities." </p><p> </p><p>“Yusuke!” A name Akira has no attachment to until the moment he utters it aloud bursts from his throat, his eyes stinging with tears as it all floods back to him.</p><p> </p><p>Yusuke hears his name just as memories come crashing over him like being dropped in icy water.</p><p> </p><p>Yusuke was hurt... Akira helped... they danced to this song... Akira had lost his sight... Yusuke took care of him... Akira was set to marry another... there was a cowboy with a bionic arm... stars and murder and safety in each other’s arms and death.</p><p> </p><p>They’re overwhelmed by not just their life together but a number of their lives together. The song comes to an end, the hazy veil drops out of existence, and they watch each other through tearful eyes.</p><p> </p><p>The one who chose death over life without the other and the one who vowed to find the one he wouldn’t want to live without. They each take slow, unsteady steps toward one another, hesitant to move and fall through this moment, to touch each other and break the illusion.</p><p> </p><p>Yusuke dares extend a hand and feels Akira’s face just as smooth and soft and warm as ever. Akira pulls the other man to him as if his arms alone could shield him from the world, as if his clinging would keep them from ever being apart again. And here they stay in each other’s arms, the universes back in alignment, the worlds set aright.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>When I first came up with the main plot point of this one, I’d planned for it to be the absolute last thing I posted. I hope you enjoyed. Thanks for reading, and Happy Halloween!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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